Stone cold sober
by PT21
Summary: After a drunken night out Abby reveals more than she meant to, only she hadn't counted on Gibbs remembering every single word she uttered to him.
1. Chapter 1

Stone cold sober

by Caz

Disclaimer is in force, so leave me be!

Rated K+

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER!? Abby was sitting in her room with tears streaming down her face, staring at the one and only private and very personal photograph of herself and Jethro Gibbs. A photograph from ages ago. A buddy photograph. A photograph that told a whole story. A photograph that she treasured, still.

She cried harder still suddenly unable to hold back the choking sobs, her trembling voice bouncing around the silent room because of last night. Last night she'd done something stupid. Worse than stupid. Much worse and she was certain that she wasn't going to be able to look Gibbs straight in the eye ever again.

As tears still cascaded down her face, strangely, Abby couldn't stop the chuckle that bubbled up, a chuckle of shame and stupidity as she reluctantly tried to remember exactly 'what' had happened last night. Lord, did she get drunk in that bar. So drunk that she didn't even remember Gibbs carrying her out, much to her buddies, Tim, Ducky, Tony and Ziva's amusement.

Because last night, drunk out of her mind, Abby had come on strong to Gibbs, so strong that instead of being horrified at what she was doing, he had allowed her to make a total and utter fool of herself.

What in God's name was she going to do?

~*~

He'd done it. He'd finally gotten his little dark, feisty and utterly adorable firecracker to let him get beneath her seemingly impenetrable shell.

He vividly remembered the tongue that she had trailed along his earlobe as he'd danced with her. Then the kiss that she had placed tenderly upon his cheek. And then the one upon his unresisting mouth. Then her hands had threaded through his soft silver hair. Then it had crept around to his jawline and then she had slipped a fingertip in between his lips and created a tidal wave of longing within him that he thought he'd long ago had managed to subdue.

Longings that he hadn't known that Abby had harboured herself for a long time. Until now.

Until last night.

But it had been the hushed and slurred words that had slipped past her lips that he had remembered the most. The same words that had been spoken to him numerous times in playful jest. Or in past dreams when he had been carried away by what she had unknowingly given him, forcing him to acknowledge that Abby was more than a friend to him. His dreams allowed him to be more than that. His dreams allowed his silent yearnings to be fulfilled.

That was until she'd gotten drunk.

In that drunken moment of madness she had let her guard down and allowed Gibbs to see the real her. She had told Gibbs with her words and her heart that she had loved him and the kiss that had followed after had fatefully sealed it.

~*~

After Gibbs had left her on the bed in her hotel room after tenderly tucking her beneath the comforter that lay folded back on top, Abby had slept the sleep of the dead, waking in the morning more than worse for the wear. And then she had showered and dressed somewhat gingerly and had been surprised when barely minutes later there was a knock at her door.

It had to be him. It just had to be.

How did he always know that she was ready for him? Only Gibbs seemed to know that she'd been thinking about him; wishing that he were there to make her feel better. Hoping that he'd give her another one of those special little Gibbs pecks. He always did. He always knew.

And Abby lived for those moments.

As she reached for the door handle she only could assume it actually 'was' Gibbs coming to tease her about her conduct and to offer his sympathy at the headache that he'd know she'd have. But when she opened the door to him and looked up into his handsome face it quickly became painfully clear that it was for neither of those reasons.

Abby felt his trepidation, saw it in his eyes and the way he held her gaze as he silently tried to look into her mind hoping she had remembered last night by her actions, her words and her acute shyness. He was reluctant to start the conversation that he knew they'd have to have, but it was clear from her slightly bloodshot and innocent cat-like eyes that she had no clue what she'd said to him, or had done to him, none whatsoever.

She watched him struggle for a short while until her own suspense and famed impatience got the better of her and she blurted, "What, Gibbs?"

Abby saw the dismay her words had created and it dimly registered that whatever Gibbs had wanted to ask her - wanted her to remember, was important. Important enough for him to try and hide how her callous, but guileless words had affected him.

He failed.

She watched him swallow as he continued to stand in her doorway and steadily watch her for any sign that she remembered. Occasionally unable to hold her gaze his eyes drifted off to somewhere else within the room as he tried to reign himself in. But only for a second. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes away from her, didn't want to, and each time they came back to her they became suspiciously brighter, and with shock, Abby realised that he was battling tears.

Tears!? Gibbs never cried, ever. It wasn't part of his make up. It wasn't the done thing for a marine to show his feelings. Damn, it just wasn't Gibbs!

Scared now, Abby stepped closer to him, now with questions of her own, needing to understand what was wrong with her own hero. They were all etched upon her elfin features and coming to a halt before him, she swallowed nervously and asked again. "What's wrong Gibbs? What did I do? Tell me."

Looking deep into her eyes he at last murmured hoarsely, "You don't remember anything, do you, Abs?"

Abby hated saying, 'no' to him when it was painfully obvious that whatever had happened between them last night was of vital importance. Not only to him, but to, 'them'. Her eyes silently pleaded with him to reveal what he knew until, unable to bare another moment of the torture she finally whispered, "Tell me, Gibbs. Tell me what happened last night...please."

He stepped slowly towards her, his eyes never leaving hers until he was close enough to her for her smell his aftershave. Close enough to reach up and kiss him, if she chose to. Close enough to see how her response would affect him when he revealed the truth about her.

Them.

His voice was low when he spoke, his voice barely reaching past a murmur. "You said you loved me, Abby. You kissed me and nuzzled my ear, and then you whispered that you loved me." Slowly lifting his arm he placed one hand tenderly upon her chest, feeling her now pounding heart beneath his fingertips.

Then looking deep into her very soul, he brokenly whispered, "You let me in here, Abby, and I finally saw."

His eyes shone with joy at what her moment of madness had revealed and he touched his lips lightly to hers, his wondrous newly found knowledge fluttering between them like a precious secret becoming unveiled. As he hovered close enough to see himself in her startled and beautiful eyes he couldn't help whispering with awe again, "I saw us, Abby."

Startled, her hushed, "Oh, my God..." resounded around them both locking them in a hurricane of emotions that climbed and soared, tumbled and screamed then tore each others hearts out as the impact of, not only his admission, but hers, too sent them both into an instant that they both wished they could replay with different words.

What could she say? Did she say, 'Yes, yes, it's true, I love you, Gibbs?' Or, 'Do you feel the same way about me? Or, 'What now, where do we go from here?' What? What? WHAT?

But instead she said, "I...I was drunk, Gibbs..."

Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!

It was stupid because the moment the words left her lips Gibbs quickly closed his eyes and dropped his arm as if he'd been burnt. And then he turned and left her standing in the centre of her room feeling as though the hurricane had unceremoniously dumped her where she stood.

And now, hours later, she was wallowing in her own hand-made agony and knew the man along the corridor was probably hurting even more than she. Abby silently begged and prayed for God, or Ducky, or anyone! to whizz back time and let her put things right, just for one moment; Back to the moment when she'd said, 'I was drunk, Gibbs'.

Just one moment. That was all she needed.

She began to cry again finally letting the tears fall free and unfettered. It felt good to cry, feeling the weeks of silent misery pour from her aching soul, not knowing if it was the end for them. Not even knowing if it had been the beginning, and when the door had chimed, she hadn't cared who was on the other side, nor did she care if they saw her at her worst.

And she was at her worst. She knew it and so did her friend and colleague, Ziva when the vibrant brunette admitted herself moments later. But her friend didn't speak, nor call her the worst of cowards. Or say, 'There, there, tell me all about it'. Ziva did nothing more than sit beside her, pull her into her arms and hold her tight.

It was all Abby had needed; the comfort of someone who cared. But someone who hadn't understood the depth of her love for their boss. But it hadn't been deep enough and a tiny smidgen of her devotion had seeped through enough for Gibbs to catch a glimpse of it and cling on to it for dear life, hoping above all hopes that someday, somehow it opened up the doorway to his heart long enough for her to slip inside and let him know that she was there, waiting for him.

Waiting for him.

Waiting for him.

Just like he had been waiting for her.

He had been waiting for her and it had taken a drunken moment for her to finally let go and open her heart for him to take a peek inside and see the real her. The Abby that loved him. And then she had passed out and forgotten every word she'd said.

But Gibbs hadn't forgotten.

Gibbs hadn't.

So Abby still had a chance.

Didn't she?

Minutes ticked by as Abby gradually cleared her head and thought about the man along the hall, not knowing if she had blown her chance with him. Would he ever forgive her? She had been drunk, after all. It wasn't all entirely her fault. It was his too, she reasoned. He had been the one to egg her on. He had been the one to pick her up after she had humiliated herself. Perhaps she 'did' have another chance. There was only one way to find out.

Moments later Ziva released her friend long enough to move away and look into Abby's puffy, red eyes, tenderness making her own dark eyes shine with unaccustomed compassion. "Are you okay, Abby?"

Immediately Abby's eyes watered again but this time she managed a watery smile, forcing the one lone teardrop to slide down her cheek. "No, I'm not. But I will be, in a minute."

Ziva's brow creased with puzzlement, but with that puzzlement there was a hint of suspicion, "Are you going to see Gibbs?"

Abby nodded vigorously and another teardrop that had formed fell free, its path rapidly made a trail down to her chin. Abby swiped it away with a trembling hand, her eyes tenderly falling to the photograph still tightly clutched in her hand. "Yes, I am. It's time to let Gibbs see and feel the real me. Only this time, Ziva, I'll be stone cold sober."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"I demand another chance, Gibbs."

Gibbs stared at the Gothic tornado who stood before him with her hands on her hips, fire in her heart and passion in her eyes, and he let nothing more than surprise flutter across his handsome features.

Desire sparked between the pair and the air became static with barely curbed anger, hunger, hope and love. But Gibbs wasn't ready to let Abby get away with her earlier heart-stopping confession quite so easily.

Not yet.

His blue eyes glinted as he took on the same stance as she, towering over her like a sentinel about to devour her whole as he stared down into her upturned face, and it was suddenly then, ironically, that Gibbs realized just how short Abby was without her trademark stacked boots. Short but perfect, for him. "Give me one good reason why I should, Abby." he growled.

Her eyes widened with shock at his refusal to accept her demand, her surprise suddenly clogging her throat with pain as her arms slipped straight and hung limply at her sides and she found herself gurgling with dismay and disbelief, "What!?"

The only time Abby had seen Gibbs' face turn sinister was when he was faced with someone or something he didn't like. He was looking at her now in the same way as he began to prowl around her, his body rigid with barely suppressed tension, his words laced with mockery. "What did you expect, Abby. That I would be grateful that you've come to me? That I would say all is forgiven and forgotten? Well, I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't forget that easily, not when it comes to us."

Abby's heart hurt as it thumped against her rib cage. She wanted to cry. God, she wanted to cry. But not now, not when her future depended on making Gibbs see reason. He was being a stubborn bully but she wasn't giving up, not yet.

Surely he must have understood her dilemma. He'd been drunk before. He had to know how she was feeling. How easy it was to say things that you might not have meant to say. How easier still it was to forget those things and she was damned if she was going to apologise for something that she had no recall of.

Gibbs watched the play of emotions flicker across Abby's beautiful face and he was silently sorry for doing what he was doing to her more than she'd ever know. Pride was standing in the way of him reaching out and pulling her into his empty arms. Pride and a perverse longing to hear her utter the words and open her heart like she had when he'd carried her in his arms last night.

He had to hear her say it again. It was a matter of life or death for him. Knowing Abby felt the same way about him as he felt for her was as paramount as being the next best NCIS agent after his own mentor. And the woman before him had helped him achieve that excellence. She had brought out the best in him. She had revealed emotions that he'd never even remotely experienced before and he'd quickly realized that it was because he'd cared for her, far more than he'd ever cared for anyone before.

More than cared.

The intimate memory of her in his arms last night twisted his loins and he quietly groaned. But the groan was loud enough for Abby to pick up the carnality within it, and the pain. Her tongue snaked out and she licked her suddenly parched lips, watching Gibbs's eyes suffuse with desire at the innocent action.

This was her chance, she realized.

Stepping towards him, Abby put herself close enough for him to reach out and touch her, if he so cared to. Turning her face up towards his, she pleaded quietly, "I can't apologise for what I don't remember, Gibbs, but please give me a chance to put things right. I want a second chance and I'm going to take it."

Gibbs drowned in her molten gaze, not helping himself as he drew himself flush against her body. He wanted her to see how important the next few minutes would affect him, and he wanted to be close enough to reap the euphoria he knew he was about to feel when she did.

Reaching up Gibbs tenderly took hold of her fingers, lacing them, locking them together, just in case something went drastically wrong and he could hold on to her to stop her fleeing from him, and then, taking a deep breath, he whispered, "Okay, you have your chance."

Without breaking her gaze, Abby stubbornly removed one of her hands from his and placed it upon his chest. His heartbeat was steady, strong and true and Gibbs felt it pounding against her palm, feeling its power, feeling its love beat for her.

Now unchallenged, her other hand begged for release and meandered up to his thick corded neck. Pulling his head down to hers, her mouth reached for his to meet in a kiss that told Gibbs just how much she ached for him. But he ached as much. She could feel it in the way he trembled within her arms. They were hurting each other but neither could understand why.

Breathlessly breaking away but not releasing her hold, Abby searched his heavy eyes as they slowly opened, the darkened pools mirroring what she hoped he could see in her own eyes.

Abby needed him to see her and needed him to feel the honesty in her words as she spoke. "I 'do' love you, Gibbs." she whispered, sure and true.

Seeing what he longed for in her eyes Gibbs lovingly touched her mouth with a feather-light kiss and pulled her body closer to his, letting her feel how much her words, her kisses, her love meant to him as he silently begged for more.

Somehow his hand moved from her heart to the soft mound of her breast and she strained against the pressure, her own body crying out for him to accept and take what she was offering.

Gibbs nuzzled against her throat, trailing his tongue up its slender length, continuing over her chin until meeting her open mouth again. But before the urgency to kiss her took over, he moaned, "Let me in, Abby. Let me see what I saw again."

Their tongues met in a collision that eventually and many moments later left them gasping for air and whimpering. Abby tore her mouth away and Gibbs, panting with exertion and banked desire searched her eyes questioningly, but the question died on his lips when he saw the look upon her cherubic face.

Reaching both hands into Gibbs's hair, Abby tightened her grip on the silky mass, holding his head firm. Time came to a standstill as Abby's eyes locked with his. Blue against green. Woman against man, but now with only one soul between them.

Gibbs felt his entire body and mind being taken over by the woman in his arms. An invisible force seemingly appeared and surrounded the lovers, imprisoning them within its arms, holding them close, letting its power transcend them to another time, another place, another existence. One they both knew. One they both remembered.

Even though the room disappeared and they let desire fill their minds the silence engulfed them like a blanket, pulling them together, holding them closer, fusing them into a oneness.

Over time, they had grown stronger, and wiser. The need to be lovers had slipped to the back of their minds, along with the desire to control their destiny's. From the moment that Abby had opened her heart to Gibbs, destiny itself had taken over its own control.

Slowly but surely and one by one, the couple shed their clothes only using one hand, each reluctant to sever the fevered contact, both afraid that it would shatter the moment if they completely let go, until at last, they stood skin to skin. Snaking their arms around each other they allowed all their fingers to get acquainted with each others bodies.

But it wasn't enough.

He suddenly swept his hands lower and gripped her buttocks, lifting her so that he could gyrate his hardness against her softness. Gibbs gasped against Abby's lips as his entire being became suffused with her and her own sharp intake of breath was swallowed with his as they clung to one another as she wrapped her slender legs around his waist as they became drenched in the sexual intensity that had driven them to this point. Then it brought them both to their knees with the power of those two desires.

Abby's head fell against Gibbs' chest as they both struggled to reign in what was happening between them. Gibbs cradled her small head against his pounding heart, knowing that her own was thumping in unison with his and as equally erratic.

Abby pulled away from his heaving body far enough to look into his face, watching tiny beads of perspiration trail down his face knowing that her own mirrored his, along with the wanton thoughts, and along with the acceptance and the honour of being given another chance.

Trailing a long nail down Gibbs' chest and catching a tiny nipple on its descent, Abby smiled seductively into his smouldering blue eyes, "So, are we going to complete this union on my carpet, or are you going to take me to bed like a proper gentleman?"

And as Gibbs took her shoulder, tipped her back and pushed her into the plush, soft fibre's of the maroon carpet and lay prone along her body, he growled possessively as his mouth descended towards hers once more, "Whoever told you I was a gentleman has obviously never seen Leroy Gibbs in love."

Abby grinned like a Cheshire cat who'd at last gotten at the cream. "You're in love with me!?"

Gibbs grinned lopsidedly, his hand already reaching for her thigh so that he could settle between her legs. "You need proof, huh?"

Abby gurgled with delight, relishing the happiness that surrounded them both now that things were in the open. Now that things were as they should be. "Yes, please."

Finally, at last, Gibbs's mouth touched hers at the same time he nudged himself into her waiting body, and only then did Gibbs give her all the proof she needed.


End file.
